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 An African Bush Elephant near the border of the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Tanzania. This article is about a geographical region for the National Park see Serengeti National Park The Serengeti ecosystem is located in north-western Tanzania Tanzania ˌtænzəˈniːə officially the United Republic of Tanzania (Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya | ||||||||||||||
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Elephants (Elephantidae) are a family in the order Proboscidea in the class Mammalia. Chordates ( Phylum Chordata) are a group of Animals that includes the Vertebrates together with several closely related Invertebrates Vertebrates are members of the Subphylum Vertebrata, Chordates with backbones or spinal columns The grouping sometimes includes Mammals ( class Mammalia) are a class of Vertebrate Animals characterized by the presence of Sweat glands, including sweat glands Proboscidea is an order containing only one family of living animals Elephantidae the Elephants with three living Species ( African Bush John Edward Gray ( 12 February 1800 &ndash 7 March 1875) was a British zoologist. Year 1821 ( MDCCCXXI) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common year In Biological classification, family ( Latin Elephants ( family: Elephantidae) are large land Mammals of the order Proboscidea. In Biological classification, family ( Latin This article is about the taxonomic rank for the sequence of species in a taxonomic list see Taxonomic order In scientific classification used Proboscidea is an order containing only one family of living animals Elephantidae the Elephants with three living Species ( African Bush A class is the Taxonomic rank in the Biological classification of organisms in Biology below phylum and above order. Mammals ( class Mammalia) are a class of Vertebrate Animals characterized by the presence of Sweat glands, including sweat glands They were once classified along with other thick skinned animals in a now invalid order, Pachydermata. This article is about the taxonomic rank for the sequence of species in a taxonomic list see Taxonomic order In scientific classification used The Pachydermata (meaning "thick skin" is an obsolete order of Mammals described by Georges Cuvier and at one time recognized by many systematists There are three living species: the African Bush Elephant, the African Forest Elephant (until recently known collectively as the African Elephant), and the Asian Elephant (also known as the Indian Elephant). In Biology, a species is one of the basic units of Biological classification and a Taxonomic rank. The African Bush Elephant ( Loxodonta africana) is the larger of the two Species of African elephant. The African Forest Elephant ( Loxodonta cyclotis) was until recently considered a Subspecies of the African Bush Elephant ( Loxodonta africana African elephants are the species of Elephants in the Genus Loxodonta, one of the two existing genera in Elephantidae. The Asian or Asiatic Elephant ( Elephas maximus) sometimes known by the name of one of its subspecies &ndash the Indian Elephant, is one of Other species have become extinct since the last ice age, which ended about 10,000 years ago, the Mammoths being the most well-known of these. An ice age is a period of long-term reduction in the Temperature of the Earth 's surface and atmosphere resulting in an expansion of continental Ice sheets A year (from Old English gēr) is the time between two recurrences of an event related to the Orbit of the Earth around the Sun A mammoth is any Species of the Extinct Genus Mammuthus. These Proboscideans are members of the elephant family and
Elephants are mammals, and the largest land animals alive today. Mammals ( class Mammalia) are a class of Vertebrate Animals characterized by the presence of Sweat glands, including sweat glands The largest organism found on earth can be measured using a variety of methods [1] The elephant's gestation period is 22 months, the longest of any land animal. Gestation is the carrying of an Embryo or Fetus inside a Female Viviparous Animal. At birth it is common for an elephant calf to weigh 120 kilograms (265 lb). The pound or pound-mass (abbreviation lb, lbm, or sometimes in the United States #) is a unit of Mass An elephant may live as long as 70 years, sometimes longer. The largest elephant ever recorded was shot in Angola in 1956. Angola, officially the Republic of Angola (República de Angola Pronounced ʁɛˈpublikɐ dɨ ɐ̃ˈgɔlɐ Repubilika ya Ngola is a country in south-central This male weighed about 12,000 kg (26,400 lb),[2] with a shoulder height of 4. 2 m (13. 8 ft), a metre (3 ft 4 in) taller than the average male African elephant. [3] The smallest elephants, about the size of a calf or a large pig, were a prehistoric species that lived on the island of Crete during the Pleistocene epoch. Crete ( Greek: Κρήτη transliteration: Krētē, modern transliteration Kriti) is the largest of the Greek islands and the The Pleistocene ('plaɪstəsin is the epoch from 18 million to 10000 years BP covering the world's recent period [4]
Elephants are symbols of wisdom in Asian cultures and are famed for their memory and high intelligence, where they are thought to be on par with cetaceans[5] and hominids[6]. The Order Cetacea (sɪˈteɪʃiə L cetus, whale includes Whales Dolphins and Porpoises Cetus is A hominid is any member of the biological family Hominidae (the "great apes" including the extinct and extant Humans Chimpanzees Aristotle once said the elephant was "the beast which passeth all others in wit and mind. Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. "
Elephants are increasingly threatened by human intrusion and poaching. Once numbering in the millions, the African elephant population has dwindled to between 470,000 and 690,000 individuals. [7] The elephant is now a protected species worldwide, with restrictions in place on capture, domestic use, and trade in products such as ivory. Ivory is formed from Dentine and constitutes the bulk of the Teeth and Tusks of animals such as the Elephant, Hippopotamus, Elephants generally have no natural predators, although lions may take calves and occasionally adults. [8][9] In some areas, lions may regularly take to preying on elephants. [10]
The word "elephant" has its origins in the Greek ἐλέφας, meaning "ivory" or "elephant". [11]
Zoology
Species
The African Elephant genus contains two (or, arguably, three) living species; whereas, the Asian Elephant species is the only surviving member of the Asian Elephant genus, but can be divided into four subspecies. African elephants are the species of Elephants in the Genus Loxodonta, one of the two existing genera in Elephantidae. A genus (plural genera from Γένος Latin genus "descent family type gender" is a low-level Taxonomic In Biology, a species is one of the basic units of Biological classification and a Taxonomic rank. The Asian or Asiatic Elephant ( Elephas maximus) sometimes known by the name of one of its subspecies &ndash the Indian Elephant, is one of The Asian or Asiatic Elephant ( Elephas maximus) sometimes known by the name of one of its subspecies &ndash the Indian Elephant, is one of A genus (plural genera from Γένος Latin genus "descent family type gender" is a low-level Taxonomic In Zoology, as in other branches of Biology, subspecies is the Taxonomic rank immediately subordinate to a Species.
African elephants, at up to 3. 9 m (13 ft) tall and weighing 7500 kg (8. 25 short tons), are usually larger than the Asian species and they have bigger ears. Both male and female African elephants have long tusks, while their Asian counterparts have shorter ones, with those of females vanishingly small. African elephants have a dipped back, smooth forehead and two "fingers" at the tip of their trunks, whereas the Asian have an arched back, two humps on the forehead and only one "finger" at the tip of their trunks.
African elephants are further subdivided into two populations, the Savanna and Forest, and recent genetic studies have led to a reclassification of these as separate species, the forest population now being called Loxodonta cyclotis, and the Savanna (or Bush) population termed Loxodonta africana. The African Bush Elephant ( Loxodonta africana) is the larger of the two Species of African elephant. The African Forest Elephant ( Loxodonta cyclotis) was until recently considered a Subspecies of the African Bush Elephant ( Loxodonta africana This reclassification has important implications for conservation, because it means that where previously it was assumed that a single and endangered species comprised two small populations, if in reality these are two separate species, then as a consequence, both could be more gravely endangered than a more numerous and wide-ranging single species might have been. There is also a potential danger in that, if the forest elephant is not explicitly listed as an endangered species, poachers and smugglers might be able to evade the law forbidding trade in endangered animals and their body parts.
The Forest elephant and the Savanna elephant can hybridise – that is, breed together – successfully, though their preferences for different terrains reduce such opportunities. As the African elephant has only recently been recognized to comprise two separate species, groups of captive elephants have not been comprehensively classified and some could well be hybrids.
Successful hybridisation between African and Asian Elephant species is much more unlikely, as is animal hybridization across different genera in general. In 1978, however, at Chester Zoo, an Asian elephant cow gave birth to a hybrid calf sired by an African elephant bull (the old terms are used here as these events pre-date the current classifications). Chester Zoo is a Zoological garden located in Cheshire in north west England. "Motty", the resulting hybrid male calf, had an African elephant's cheeks, their ears (large with pointed lobes) and legs (longer and slimmer), but the toenail numbers, (5 for each front foot, 4 hind) and the single trunk finger of an Asian elephant. Motty ( 11 July, 1978, Chester Zoo, Cheshire - 23 July, 1978, Chester Zoo, Cheshire) was the only His wrinkled trunk was like that of an African elephant. His forehead was sloping with one dome and two smaller domes behind it. The body was African in type, but had an Asian-type centre hump and an African-type rear hump. The calf died of infection 12 days later. It is preserved as a mounted specimen at the British Natural History Museum, London. The Natural History Museum is one of three large Museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London (the others are the Science Museum There are unconfirmed rumours of three other hybrid elephants born in zoos or circuses; all are said to have been deformed and none survived.
African Elephant
The Elephants of the genus Loxodonta, known collectively as African elephants, are currently found in 37 countries in Africa. African elephants are the species of Elephants in the Genus Loxodonta, one of the two existing genera in Elephantidae.
African elephants are distinguished from Asian elephants in several ways, the most noticeable being their ears. Africans' ears are much larger. The African is typically larger than the Asian and has a concave back. Both African males and females have external tusks and are usually less hairy than their Asian cousins.
African elephants have traditionally been classified as a single species comprising two distinct subspecies, namely the savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana africana) and the forest elephant (Loxodonta africana cyclotis), but recent DNA analysis suggests that these may actually constitute distinct species. [12] While this split is not universally accepted by experts[13] a third species of African elephant has also been proposed. [14]
Under the new two species classification, Loxodonta africana refers specifically to the Savanna Elephant, the largest of all elephants. In fact, it is the largest land animal in the world, standing up to 4 m (13 ft) at the shoulder and weighing approximately 7,000 kg (7. 7 tons). The average male stands about 3 m (10 ft) tall at the shoulder and weighs about 5500–6000 kg (6. 1–6. 6 tons), the female being much smaller. Most often, Savanna Elephants are found in open grasslands, marshes, and lakeshores. Grasslands (also called greenswards) are areas where the Vegetation is dominated by Grasses ( Poaceae) and other Herbaceous (non-woody In Geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of Wetland which is subject They range over much of the savanna zone south of the Sahara. Sub-Saharan Africa is a geographical term used to describe the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara, or those African countries
The other postulated species is the Forest Elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis). Compared with the Savanna Elephant, its ears are usually smaller and rounder, and its tusks thinner and straighter and not directed outwards as much. The Forest Elephant can weigh up to 4,500 kg (10,000 lb) and stand about 3 m (10 ft) tall. Much less is known about these animals than their savanna cousins because environmental and political obstacles make them difficult to study. Normally, they inhabit the dense African rain forests of central and western Africa, though occasionally they roam the edges of forests and so overlap the territories of the Savanna elephants and breed with them. In Ethology, Sociobiology and Behavioral ecology, the term territory refers to any sociographical area that an Animal of a particular Species In 1979, Iain Douglas-Hamilton estimated the continental population of African elephants at around 1. Iain Douglas-Hamiltion, OBE, (born 16 August 1942) is a zoologist known for his study of Elephants He earned both an M 3 million animals. [15] This estimate is controversial and is believed to be a gross overestimate,[16] but it is very widely cited and has become a de facto baseline that continues to be incorrectly used to quantify downward population trends in the species. Through the 1980s, Loxodonta received worldwide attention due to the dwindling numbers of major populations in East Africa, largely as a result of poaching. Today, according to IUCN’s African Elephant Status Report 2007[17] there are approximately between 470,000 and 690,000 African elephants in the wild. Although this estimate only covers about half of the total elephant range, experts do not believe the true figure to be much higher, as it is unlikely that large populations remain to be discovered. [18] By far the largest populations are now found in Southern and Eastern Africa, which together account for the majority of the continental population. According to a recent analysis by IUCN experts, most major populations in Eastern and Southern Africa are stable or have been steadily increasing since the mid-1990s, at an average rate of 4. 5% per annum. [19][20]
Elephant populations in West Africa, on the other hand, are generally small and fragmented, and only account for a small proportion of the continental total. [21] Much uncertainty remains as to the size of the elephant population in Central Africa, where the prevalence of forest makes population surveys difficult, but poaching for ivory and bushmeat is believed to be intense through much of the region. [22] South Africa elephant population almost doubled, rising from from 8,000 to over 20,000, in the thirteen years after a 1995 ban on killing the animals. The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa The ban was lifted in February 2008, sparking controversy among environmental groups. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common [23]
Asian Elephant
The Asian elephant is smaller than the African. It has smaller ears, and typically, only the males have large external tusks.
The world population of Asian elephants – also called Indian Elephants or Elephas maximus – is estimated to be around 60,000, about a tenth of the number of African elephants. More precisely, it is estimated that there are between 38,000 and 53,000 wild elephants and between 14,500 and 15,300 domesticated elephants in Asia with perhaps another 1,000 scattered around zoos in the rest of the world. [24] The Asian elephants' decline has possibly been more gradual with the causes primarily being poaching and habitat destruction by human encroachment.
There are several subspecies of Elephas maximus and some have been identified only using molecular markers. The first found subspecies is the Sri Lankan Elephant (Elephas maximus maximus). The Sri Lankan Elephant ( Elephas maximus maximus) is the nominate Subspecies of the Asian Elephant and is the largest of the subspecies although smaller Found only on the island of Sri Lanka, it is the largest of the Asians. Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ( Sinhalese:, இலங்கை known as Ceylon before 1972 is an Island There are only an estimated 3,000–4,500 members of this subspecies left today in the wild, although no accurate census has been carried out in the recent past. Large males can weigh upward to 5,400 kg (12,000 lb) and stand over 3. 4 m (11 ft) tall. Sri Lankan males have very large cranial bulges, and both sexes have more areas of depigmentation than are found in the other Asians. Typically, their ears, face, trunk, and belly have large concentrations of pink-speckled skin. There is an orphanage for elephants in Pinnawala Sri Lanka, which gives shelter to disabled, injured elephants. An orphanage is an institution devoted to the care of children whose parents are deceased or otherwise unable to care for them Pinnawala is a Village in Kegalle district of Sri Lanka and is around 90 km from the capital Colombo. Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ( Sinhalese:, இலங்கை known as Ceylon before 1972 is an Island This program plays a large role in protecting the Sri Lankan Elephant from extinction. In Biology and Ecology, extinction is the cessation of existence of a Species or group of taxa.
Another subspecies, the Indian Elephant (Elephas maximus indicus) makes up the bulk of the Asian elephant population. The Indian Elephant, Elephas maximus indicus, is one of four Subspecies of the Asian Elephant, the largest population of which is found in India Numbering approximately 36,000, these elephants are lighter grey in colour, with depigmentation only on the ears and trunk. Large males will ordinarily weigh only about 5,000 kg (11,000 lb) but are as tall as the Sri Lankan. The mainland Asian can be found in 11 Asian countries, from India to Indonesia. They prefer forested areas and transitional zones, between forests and grasslands, where greater food variety is available.
The smallest of all the elephants is the Sumatran Elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus). The Sumatran Elephant ( Elephas maximus sumatrensis) is a Subspecies of the Asian Elephant. Population estimates for this group range from 2,100 to 3,000 individuals. It is very light grey and has less depigmentation than the other Asians, with pink spots only on the ears. Mature Sumatrans will usually only measure 1. 7–2. 6 m (5. 6–8. 5 ft) at the shoulder and weigh less than 3,000 kg (6,600 lb). An enormous animal nonetheless, it is considerably smaller than its other Asian (and African) cousins and exists only on the island of Sumatra, usually in forested regions and partially wooded habitats.
In 2003 a further subspecies was identified on Borneo. Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located at the centre of Maritime Southeast Asia. Named the Borneo pygmy elephant, it is smaller and tamer than other Asian elephants. The Borneo Elephant, also called the Borneo Pygmy Elephant, ( Elephas maximus borneensis) is a Subspecies of the Asian Elephant and found It also has relatively larger ears, longer tail and straighter tusks.
Body characteristics
Trunk
The proboscis, or trunk, is a fusion of the nose and upper lip, elongated and specialized to become the elephant's most important and versatile appendage. In general a proboscis (from Greek προ pro "before" and βοσκειν boskein "to feed" also known as probiscus African elephants are equipped with two fingerlike projections at the tip of their trunk, while Asians have only one. According to biologists, the elephant's trunk may have over forty thousand individual muscles in it,[25] making it sensitive enough to pick up a single blade of grass, yet strong enough to rip the branches off a tree. Some sources indicate that the correct number of muscles in an elephant's trunk is closer to one hundred thousand. [26]
Most herbivores (plant eaters, like the elephant) possess teeth adapted for cutting and tearing off plant materials. Herbivory is a form of Predation in which an Organism, known as a herbivore, consumes principally Autotrophs ref name=Campbell>Campbell However, except for the very young or infirm, elephants always use their trunks to tear up their food and then place it in their mouth. They will graze on grass or reach up into trees to grasp leaves, fruit, or entire branches. If the desired food item is too high up, the elephant will wrap its trunk around the tree or branch and shake its food loose or sometimes simply knock the tree down altogether.
The trunk is also used for drinking. Elephants suck water up into the trunk (up to fifteen quarts or fourteen litres at a time) and then blow it into their mouth. Elephants also inhale water to spray on their body during bathing. On top of this watery coating, the animal will then spray dirt and mud, which act as a protective sunscreen. When swimming, the trunk makes an excellent snorkel. Snorkeling ( British spelling: snorkelling) is the practice of Swimming at the surface of a body of water while equipped with a Diving mask, a [27][28]
This appendage also plays a key role in many social interactions. Familiar elephants will greet each other by entwining their trunks, much like a handshake. They also use them while play-wrestling, caressing during courtship and mother / child interactions, and for dominance displays – a raised trunk can be a warning or threat, while a lowered trunk can be a sign of submission. Elephants can defend themselves very well by flailing their trunk at unwanted intruders or by grasping and flinging them.
An elephant also relies on its trunk for its highly developed sense of smell. Raising the trunk up in the air and swivelling it from side to side, like a periscope, it can determine the location of friends, enemies, and food sources.
Tusks
The tusks of an elephant are its second upper incisors. A tusk is an extremely long Incisor Tooth of certain Mammals that protrudes when the Mouth is closed Incisors (from Latin incidere, "to cut" are the first kind of Tooth in Heterodont Mammals They are located in the Premaxilla Tusks grow continuously; an adult male's tusks will grow about 18 cm (7 in) a year. Tusks are used to dig for water, salt, and roots; to debark trees, to eat the bark; to dig into baobab trees to get at the pulp inside; and to move trees and branches when clearing a path. Baobab is the common name of a Genus ( Adansonia) containing eight species of Trees native to Madagascar (having six species mainland In addition, they are used for marking trees to establish territory and occasionally as weapons.
Like humans who are typically right- or left-handed, elephants are usually right- or left-tusked. Handedness is an attribute of human beings defined by their unequal distribution of Fine motor skill between the left and right Hands. The dominant tusk, called the master tusk, is generally shorter and more rounded at the tip from wear. Both male and female African elephants have large tusks that can reach over 3 m (10 ft) in length and weigh over 90 kg (200 lb). In the Asian species, only the males have large tusks. Female Asians have tusks which are very small or absent altogether. Asian males can have tusks as long as the much larger Africans, but they are usually much slimmer and lighter; the heaviest recorded is 39 kg (86 lb). The tusk of both species is mostly made of calcium phosphate in the form of apatite. Calcium phosphate is the name given to a family of Minerals containing Calcium Ions (Ca2+ together with orthophosphates (PO43- As a piece of living tissue, it is relatively soft (compared with other minerals such as rock), and the tusk, also known as ivory, is strongly favoured by artists for its carvability. Ivory is formed from Dentine and constitutes the bulk of the Teeth and Tusks of animals such as the Elephant, Hippopotamus, The desire for elephant ivory has been one of the major factors in the reduction of the world's elephant population.
Some extinct relatives of elephants had tusks in their lower jaws in addition to their upper jaws, such as Gomphotherium, or only in their lower jaws, such as Deinotherium. Gomphotherium (pronunciation gom-fo-THEER-ee-um ("Welded Beast" is an extinct genus of proboscid which evolved in the Early Miocene of Deinotherium ("terrible beast" also called the Hoe tusker was a gigantic prehistoric relative of modern-day Elephants that appeared in the Middle Miocene
Teeth
Elephants' teeth are very different from those of most other mammals. Over their lives they usually have 28 teeth. These are:
- The two upper second incisors: these are the tusks. A tusk is an extremely long Incisor Tooth of certain Mammals that protrudes when the Mouth is closed
- The milk precursors of the tusks. See also Deciduous. "Baby teeth" redirects here For the band of that name see Baby Teeth (band.
- 12 premolars, 3 in each side of each jaw.
- 12 molars, 3 in each side of each jaw. Molars are the rearmost and most complicated kind of Tooth in most Mammals In many mammals they grind food hence the Latin name mola, " Millstone
This gives elephants a dental formula of:
| 1. Dentition is the development of Teeth and their arrangement in the Mouth. 0. 3. 3 |
| 0. 0. 3. 3 |
Unlike most mammals, which grow baby teeth and then replace them with a permanent set of adult teeth, elephants have cycles of tooth rotation throughout their entire life. Tooth development is the complex process by which teeth form from Embryonic cells, grow, and erupt into the Mouth. After one year the tusks are permanent, but the molars are replaced six times in an average elephant's lifetime. [29] The teeth do not emerge from the jaws vertically like with human teeth. Instead, they have a horizontal progression, like a conveyor belt. New teeth grow in at the back of the mouth, pushing older teeth toward the front, where they wear down with use and the remains fall out. When an elephant becomes very old, the last set of teeth is worn to stumps, and it must rely on softer foods to chew. Very elderly elephants often spend their last years exclusively in marshy areas where they can feed on soft wet grasses. Eventually, when the last teeth fall out, the elephant will be unable to eat and will die of starvation. Were it not for tooth wearout, their metabolism would allow them to live much longer. Rupert Sheldrake has proposed this as an explanation for the elephant graveyards. Elephant's Graveyard is a special collection of B-sides and rarities from singer-songwriter Ed Harcourt. However, as more habitat is destroyed, the elephants' living space becomes smaller and smaller; the elderly no longer have the opportunity to roam in search of more appropriate food and will, consequently, die of starvation at an earlier age.
Tusks in the lower jaw are also second incisors. These grew out large in Deinotherium and some mastodons, but in modern elephants they disappear early without erupting. Deinotherium ("terrible beast" also called the Hoe tusker was a gigantic prehistoric relative of modern-day Elephants that appeared in the Middle Miocene Mastodons or Mastodonts (from Greek μαστός and οδούς, meaning " Nipple tooth" are members of the extinct
Skin
Elephants are called pachyderms, which means thick-skinned animals. An elephant's skin is extremely tough around most parts of its body and measures about 2. 5 centimetres (1 in) thick. A centimetre ( American spelling: centimeter, symbol cm) is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to one hundredth However, the skin around the mouth and inside of the ear is paper thin. Normally, the skin of an Asian is covered with more hair than its African counterpart. This is most noticeable in the young. Asian calves are usually covered with a thick coat of brownish red fuzz. As they get older, this hair darkens and becomes more sparse, but it will always remain on their heads and tails.
The species of elephants are typically greyish in colour, but the Africans very often appear brown or reddish from wallowing in mud holes of coloured soil. Wallowing is an important behaviour in elephant society. Not only is it important for socialization, but the mud acts as a sunscreen, protecting their skin from harsh ultraviolet radiation. Though tough, an elephant's skin is very sensitive. Without regular mud baths to protect it from burning, as well as from insect bites and moisture loss, an elephant's skin would suffer serious damage. After bathing, the elephant will usually use its trunk to blow dirt on its body to help dry and bake on its new protective coat. As elephants are limited to smaller and smaller areas, there is less water available, and local herds will often come too close over the right to use these limited resources.
Wallowing also aids the skin in regulating body temperatures. Elephants have difficulty in releasing heat through the skin because, in proportion to their body size, they have very little of it. The ratio of an elephant's mass to the surface area of its skin is many times that of a human. Elephants have even been observed lifting up their legs to expose the soles of their feet, presumably in an effort to expose more skin to the air. Since wild elephants live in very hot climates, they must have other means of getting rid of excess heat.
Legs and feet
An elephant's legs are great straight pillars, as they must be to support its bulk. Watermelon ( Citrullus lanatus ( Thunb) Matsum & Nakai family Cucurbitaceae) refers to both Fruit and Plant of a vine-like (climber The elephant needs less muscular power to stand because of its straight legs and large pad-like feet. For this reason an elephant can stand for very long periods of time without tiring. In fact, African elephants rarely lie down unless they are sick or wounded. Indian elephants, in contrast, lie down frequently.
The feet of an elephant are nearly round. African elephants have three nails on each hind foot, and four on each front foot. Indian elephants have four nails on each hind foot and five on each front foot. Beneath the bones of the foot is a tough, gelatinous material that acts as a cushion or shock absorber. Under the elephant's weight the foot swells, but it gets smaller when the weight is removed. An elephant can sink deep into mud, but can pull its legs out readily because its feet become smaller when they are lifted.
An elephant is a good swimmer, but it can neither trot, jump, nor gallop. The trot is a two beat diagonal gait of the Horse where the diagonal pairs of legs move forward at the same time This is an article on horse gaits for other meanings see gait (disambiguation. It does have two gaits: a walk, and a faster gait that is similar to running. In walking the legs act as pendulums, with the hips and shoulders rising and falling while the foot is planted on the ground. With no "aerial phase," the faster gait does not meet all the criteria of running, as elephants always have at least one foot on the ground. However an elephant moving fast uses its legs like a running animal does, with the hips and shoulders falling and then rising while the feet are on the ground. In this gait an elephant will have three feet off the ground at one time. As both of the hind feet and both of the front feet are off the ground at the same time, this gait has been likened to the hind legs and the front legs taking turns running. [30] Although they start this "run" at only 8 km/h,[31] elephants may reach 25 km/h, all the while using the same gait. At this speed most other four-legged creatures are well into a gallop, even with leg length accounted for. Tetrapods ( Greek τετραποδη tetrapoda, Latin Quadruped, "four-footed" are Vertebrate Animals Spring-like kinetics may explain the difference between the motion of these and other animals. [32]
Ears
The large flapping ears of an elephant are also very important for temperature regulation. Elephant ears are made of a very thin layer of skin stretched over cartilage and a rich network of blood vessels. On hot days, elephants will flap their ears constantly, creating a slight breeze. This breeze cools the surface blood vessels, and then the cooler blood gets circulated to the rest of the animal's body. The hot blood entering the ears can be cooled as much as ten degrees Fahrenheit before returning to the body. Differences in the ear sizes of African and Asian elephants can be explained, in part, by their geographical distribution. Africans originated and stayed near the equator, where it is warmer. Therefore, they have bigger ears. Asians live farther north, in slightly cooler climates, and thus have smaller ears.
The ears are also used in certain displays of aggression and during the males' mating period. If an elephant wants to intimidate a predator or rival, it will spread its ears out wide to make itself look more massive and imposing. During the breeding season, males give off an odour from a gland located behind their eyes. Joyce Poole, a well-known elephant researcher, has theorized that the males will fan their ears in an effort to help propel this "elephant cologne" great distances.
Evolution
Although the fossil evidence is uncertain, scientists discovered genetic evidence that the elephant family shares distant ancestry with the sirenians (sea cows) and the hyraxes through gene comparisons. Not to be confused with order Sirenidae (aquatic salamanders For the Gothic metal band see Sirenia (band Sirenia A hyrax (from Greek 'shrewmouse' Afrikaans: klipdassie, from Dutch: klipdas 'rockbadger' is any of four Species of fairly In the distant past, members of the hyrax family grew to large sizes, and it seems likely that the common ancestor of all three modern families was some kind of amphibious hyracoid. One theory suggests that these animals spent most of their time under water, using their trunks like snorkels for breathing. Snorkeling ( British spelling: snorkelling) is the practice of Swimming at the surface of a body of water while equipped with a Diving mask, a [27][28] Modern elephants have retained this ability and are known to swim in that manner for up to 6 hours and 50 km (30 miles).
In the past, there was a much wider variety of elephant genera, including the mammoths, stegodons and deinotheria. A mammoth is any Species of the Extinct Genus Mammuthus. These Proboscideans are members of the elephant family and Stegodon is a Genus of the Extinct Subfamily Stegodontinae of the order Proboscidea. Deinotherium ("terrible beast" also called the Hoe tusker was a gigantic prehistoric relative of modern-day Elephants that appeared in the Middle Miocene There was also a much wider variety of species. [33][34]
Diet
Elephants are herbivores, spending 16 hours a day collecting plant food. Herbivory is a form of Predation in which an Organism, known as a herbivore, consumes principally Autotrophs ref name=Campbell>Campbell Their diet is at least 50% grasses, supplemented with leaves, bamboo, twigs, bark, roots, and small amounts of fruits, seeds and flowers. Because elephants only digest 40% of what they eat, they have to make up for their digestive system's lack of efficiency in volume. An adult elephant can consume 140–270 kg (300–600 lb) of food a day. 60% of that food leaves the elephant's body undigested.
Intelligence
With a mass just over 5 kg (11 lb), elephant brains are larger than those of any land animal, and although the largest whales have body masses twentyfold those of a typical elephant, whale brains are barely twice the mass of an elephant's. The telencephalon (tɛlɛnˈsɛfəlɒn cerebrum, or forebrain is the most Anterior or especially in humans most Dorsal region of the The temporal lobes are parts of the cerebrum that are involved in speech, Memory, and Hearing. The cerebellum ( Latin: "little brain" is a region of the Brain that plays an important role in the integration of sensory perception Whales are marine mammals which are neither Dolphins (ie members of the families Delphinidae or Platanistoidae) nor Porpoises Orcas A wide variety of behaviours, including those associated with grief, making music, art, altruism, allomothering, play, use of tools,[35] compassion and self-awareness [36] evidence a highly intelligent species on par with cetaceans[5] and primates[6]. Grief is a multi-faceted response to loss Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss it also has physical cognitive behavioral social and philosophical Art refers to a diverse range of Human activities creations and expressions that are appealing to the Senses or Emotions of a human individual Compassion is a profound human Emotion prompted by the pain of others Self-awareness is the concept that one exists as an individual separate from other people with private Thoughts. The Order Cetacea (sɪˈteɪʃiə L cetus, whale includes Whales Dolphins and Porpoises Cetus is A primate is a member of the biological order Primates ( Latin: "prime first rank" the group that contains Lemurs the Aye-aye
The largest areas in elephant brain are those responsible for hearing, smell and movement coordination, and a large portion of the brain has to do with trunk management and sensitivity.
Senses
Elephants have well innervated trunks, and an exceptional sense of hearing and smell. The hearing receptors reside not only in ears, but also in trunks that are sensitive to vibrations, and most significantly feet, which have special receptors for low frequency sound and are exceptionally well innervated. It is believed that sound communication between elephants on large distances, through the ground, is important in their social lives, and elephants are observed listening by putting trunks on the ground and carefully moving their very sensitive feet.
Social behaviour
Elephants live in a structured social order. The social lives of male and female elephants are very different. The females spend their entire lives in tightly knit family groups made up of mothers, daughters, sisters, and aunts. These groups are led by the eldest female, or matriarch. A matriarch, clan-mother or 'chief' is an Autocratic female ruler of a human family Clan, or Kinship, or of an animal grouping Adult males, on the other hand, live mostly solitary lives.
The social circle of the female elephant does not end with the small family unit. In addition to encountering the local males that live on the fringes of one or more groups, the female's life also involves interaction with other families, clans, and subpopulations. Most immediate family groups range from five to fifteen adults, as well as a number of immature males and females. When a group gets too big, a few of the elder daughters will break off and form their own small group. They remain very aware of which local herds are relatives and which are not.
The life of the adult male is very different. As he gets older, he begins to spend more time at the edge of the herd, gradually going off on his own for hours or days at a time. Eventually, days become weeks, and somewhere around the age of fourteen, the mature male, or bull, sets out from his natal group for good. While males do live primarily solitary lives, they will occasionally form loose associations with other males. These groups are called bachelor herds. The males spend much more time than the females fighting for dominance with each other. Only the most dominant males will be permitted to breed with cycling females. The less dominant ones must wait their turn. It is usually the older bulls, forty to fifty years old, that do most of the breeding.
The dominance battles between males can look very fierce, but typically they inflict very little injury. Most of the bouts are in the form of aggressive displays and bluffs. Ordinarily, the smaller, younger, and less confident animal will back off before any real damage can be done. However, during the breeding season, the battles can get extremely aggressive, and the occasional elephant is injured. During this season, known as musth, a bull will fight with almost any other male it encounters, and it will spend most of its time hovering around the female herds, trying to find a receptive mate. Musth (or alternatively spelled must is a periodic condition in bull Elephants characterized by a thick tar-like secretion called temporin from the temporal ducts
Self-awareness
Mirror self recognition is a test of self awareness and cognition used in animal studies. The mirror test is a measure of Self-awareness developed by Gordon Gallup Jr A mirror was provided and visible marks were made on the elephant. The elephants investigated these marks, that were visible only via the mirror. The tests also included non-visible marks to rule out the possibility of their using other senses to detect these marks. This shows that elephants recognize the fact that the image in the mirror is their own self and such abilities are considered the basis for empathy, altruism and higher social interactions. This ability had earlier only been demonstrated in humans, apes and Bottlenose Dolphins. Human beings, humans or man (Origin 1590–1600 L homō man OL hemō the earthly one (see Humus The Bottlenose Dolphin is one of the most common and well-known Dolphins. [37]
Homosexuality
African as well as Asiatic males will engage in same-sex bonding and mounting. Such encounters are often associated with affectionate interactions, such as kissing, trunk intertwining, and placing trunks in each other's mouths. The encounters are analogous to heterosexual bouts, one male often extending his trunk along the other's back and pushing forward with his tusks to signify his intention to mount. Unlike heterosexual relations, which are always of a fleeting nature, those between males result in a "companionship", consisting of an older individual and one or two younger, attendant males. Same-sex relations are common and frequent in both sexes, with Asiatic elephants in captivity devoting roughly 45% of sexual encounters to same-sex activity. [38]
Communication
Elephants communicate over long distances by producing and receiving low-frequency sound (infrasound), a sub-sonic rumbling, which can travel through the ground farther than sound travels through the air. This can be felt by the sensitive skin of an elephant's feet and trunk, which pick up the resonant vibrations much as the flat skin on the head of a drum. To listen attentively, every member of the herd will lift one foreleg from the ground, and face the source of the sound, or often lay its trunk on the ground. The lifting presumably increases the ground contact and sensitivity of the remaining legs. This ability is thought also to aid their navigation by use of external sources of infrasound. Discovery of this new aspect of elephant social communication and perception came with breakthroughs in audio technology, which can pick up frequencies outside the range of the human ear. Pioneering research in elephant infrasound communication was done by Katy Payne, of the Elephant Listening Project,[39] and is detailed in her book Silent Thunder. Katharine Boynton Payne (born 1937) is a researcher in the Bioacoustics Research Program at the Laboratory of Ornithology at Cornell University. Though this research is still in its infancy, it is helping to solve many mysteries, such as how elephants can find distant potential mates, and how social groups are able to coordinate their movements over extensive range.
Painting
Some elephants in Thailand have been trained to paint self portraits. [40][41][42]
Videos of elephants painting self-portraits have circulated the internet leaving many to wonder if they had been part of a hoax. The myth-busting website De-Fact-o.com has dedicated an article to validating the authenticity of the videos. [43]
Reproduction, calves, and calf rearing
Elephant calves
Elephant social life revolves around breeding and raising of the calves. A female will usually be ready to breed around the age of thirteen, at which time she will seek out the most attractive male to mate with. Females are generally attracted to bigger, stronger, and, most importantly, older males. Such a reproductive strategy tends to increase their offspring's chances of survival.
After a twenty-two-month pregnancy, the mother will give birth to a calf that will weigh about 113 kg (250 lb) and stand over 76 cm (2. 5 ft) tall. Elephants have a very long childhood. They are born with fewer survival instincts than many other animals. Instead, they must rely on their elders to teach them the things they need to know. Today, however, the pressures humans have put on the wild elephant populations, from poaching to habitat destruction, mean that the elderly often die at a younger age, leaving fewer teachers for the young.
All members of the tightly knit female group participate in the care and protection of the young. Since everyone in the herd is related, there is never a shortage of baby-sitters. In fact, a new calf is usually the centre of attention for all herd members. All the adults and most of the other young will gather around the newborn, touching and caressing it with their trunks. The baby is born nearly blind and at first relies, almost completely, on its trunk to discover the world around it.
Allomothers
After the initial excitement, the mother will usually select several full-time baby-sitters, or "allomothers", from her group. According to Cynthia Moss, a well known researcher, these allomothers will help in all aspects of raising the calf. They walk with the young as the herd travels, helping the calves along if they fall or get stuck in the mud. The more allomothers a baby has, the more free time its mother has to feed herself. Providing a calf with nutritious milk means the mother has to eat more nutritious food herself. So, the more allomothers, the better the calf's chances of survival. An elephant is considered an allomother when she is not able to have her own baby. A benefit of being an allomother is that she can gain experience or receive assistance when caring for her own calf.
Effect on the environment
Elephants' foraging activities affect the areas in which they live:
- By pulling down trees to eat leaves, breaking branches, and pulling out roots they create clearings in which new young trees and other vegetation grow to provide future nutrition for elephants and other organisms.
- Elephants make pathways through the environment that are used by other animals to access areas normally out of reach. The pathways have been used by several generations of elephants, and today people are converting many of them to paved roads.
- During the dry season elephants use their tusks to dig into dry river beds to reach underground sources of water. Wadi (وادي) (also Vadi) is traditionally a valley In some cases it can refer to a dry riverbed that contains water only during times of heavy rain These newly dug water holes may become the only source of water in the area. Water is a common Chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of Life.
- Elephants are a species which many other organisms depend on. For example, termites eat elephant feces and often begin building termite mounds under piles of elephant feces. The termites are a group of Social Insects usually classified at the taxonomic rank of order Isoptera (but see also taxonomy
Threat of extinction
Hunting
The threat to the African elephant presented by the ivory trade is unique to the species. Larger, long-lived, slow-breeding animals, like the elephant, are more susceptible to overhunting than other animals. They cannot hide, and it takes many years for an elephant to grow and reproduce. An elephant needs an average of 140 kg (300 lb) of vegetation a day to survive. As large predators are hunted, the local small grazer populations (the elephant's food competitors) find themselves on the rise. The increased number of herbivores ravage the local trees, shrubs, and grasses. Elephants themselves have few natural predators besides man and, occasionally, lions.
Dehabitation
Another threat to elephant's survival in general is the ongoing cultivation of their habitats with increasing risk of conflicts of interest with human cohabitants. These conflicts kill 150 elephants and up to 100 people per year in Sri Lanka. [44] Lacking the massive tusks of its African cousins, the Asian elephant's demise can be attributed mostly to loss of its habitat.
As larger patches of forest disappear, the ecosystem is affected in profound ways. The trees are responsible for anchoring soil and absorbing water runoff. Floods and massive erosion are common results of deforestation. Elephants need massive tracts of land because, much like the slash-and-burn farmers, they are used to crashing through the forest, tearing down trees and shrubs for food and then cycling back later on, when the area has regrown. As forests are reduced to small pockets, elephants become part of the problem, quickly destroying all the vegetation in an area, eliminating all their resources.
National parks
Africa's first official reserve eventually became one of the world's most famous and successful national parks. Kruger National Park in South Africa first became a reserve against great opposition in 1898 (then Sabi Reserve). Kruger National Park is the largest Game reserve in South Africa. Year 1898 ( MDCCCXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common It was deproclaimed and reproclaimed several times before it was renamed and granted national park status in 1926. It was to be the first of many.
There were many problems in establishing these reserves. For example, elephants range through a wide tract of land with little regard for national borders. However, when most parks were created, the boundaries were drawn at the human-made borders of individual countries. Once a fence was erected, many animals found themselves cut off from their winter feeding grounds or spring breeding areas. Some animals died as a result, while some, like the elephants, just trampled through the fences. This did little to belie their image as a crop-raiding pest. The more often an elephant wandered off its reserve, the more trouble it got into, and the more chance it had of being shot by an angry farmer. When confined to small territories, elephants can inflict an enormous amount of damage to the local landscapes. Today there are still many problems associated with these parks and reserves, but there is now little question as to whether or not they are necessary. As scientists learn more about nature and the environment, it becomes very clear that these parks may be the elephant's last hope against the rapidly changing world around them.
Additionally, Kruger National Park has suffered from elephant overcrowding, at the expense of other species of wildlife within the reserve. South Africa slaughtered 14,562 elephants in the reserve between 1967 and 1994; it stopped in 1995, mostly due to international and local pressure. Officials at the Kruger National Park say that without action, the elephant population there will likely triple to 34,000 by 2020. [45]
On 25 February 2008 the South African Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism announced that South Africa would reintroduce culling for the first time since 1994 to control elephant numbers, which environmentalists say are threatening the country’s game reserves. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common [46]
Humanity and elephants
Harvest from the wild
The harvest of elephants, both legal and illegal, has had some unexpected consequences on elephant anatomy as well. African ivory hunters, by killing only tusked elephants, have given a much larger chance of mating to elephants with small tusks or no tusks at all. The propagation of the absent-tusk gene has resulted in the birth of large numbers of tuskless elephants, now approaching 30% in some populations (compare with a rate of about 1% in 1930). Tusklessness, once a very rare genetic abnormality, has become a widespread hereditary trait.
It is possible, if unlikely, that continued selection pressure could bring about a complete absence of tusks in African elephants, a development normally requiring thousands of years of evolution. The effect of tuskless elephants on the environment, and on the elephants themselves, could be dramatic. Elephants use their tusks to root around in the ground for necessary minerals, tear apart vegetation, and spar with one another for mating rights. Without tusks, elephant behaviour could change dramatically. [47]
Domestication and use
Elephants have been working animals used in various capacities by humans. A working animal is an animal that is kept by humans and trained to perform tasks Seals found in the Indus Valley suggest that the elephant was first domesticated in ancient India. However, elephants have never been truly domesticated: the male elephant in his periodic condition of musth is dangerous and difficult to control. Musth (or alternatively spelled must is a periodic condition in bull Elephants characterized by a thick tar-like secretion called temporin from the temporal ducts Therefore elephants used by humans have typically been female, war elephants being an exception, however: as female elephants in battle will run from a male, only males could be used in war. It is generally more economical to capture wild young elephants and tame them than breeding them in captivity (see also elephant "crushing"). Elephant crushing, or a training crush is a supposed method by which wild Elephants can be tamed for domestication using restriction in a cage sometimes with the
War Elephants
War elephants were used by armies in the Indian sub-continent, the Warring States of China, and later by the Persian Empire. A war elephant is an Elephant trained and guided by humans for combat A war elephant is an Elephant trained and guided by humans for combat India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country The Warring States Period ( also known as the Era of Warring States covers the period from some time in the 5th century BC to the unification of China by the China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland and beyond in Western Asia This use was adopted by Hellenistic armies after Alexander the Great experienced their worth against king Porus, notably in the Ptolemaic and Seleucid diadoch empires. This article focuses on the cultural aspects of the Hellenistic age for the historical aspects see Hellenistic period. Alexander the Great ( or, Mégas Aléxandros; July 20 356 BC June 10 or June 11 323 BC also known as Alexander III of Macedon (el Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' Conflict alliance and comradeship with Alexander Unlike his neighbour Ambhi (in Greek Omphis, King Porus chose to fight Alexander the Great in The Ptolemaic dynasty (sometimes also known as the Lagids, from the name of Ptolemy I's father Lagus) was a Hellenistic Macedonian royal family The Seleucid Empire /sə'lusɪd/ ( 312 - 63 BC) was a Hellenistic empire i The Carthaginian general Hannibal took elephants across the Alps when he was fighting the Romans, but brought too few elephants to be of much military use, although his horse cavalry was quite successful; he probably used a now-extinct third African (sub)species, the North African (Forest) elephant, smaller than its two southern cousins, and presumably easier to domesticate. Carthage (Καρχηδών Karkhēdōn, Carthago from the Phoenician קרת חדשת phn-Latn Qart-ḥadašt meaning new town) refers Hannibal (Pronounced in Phoenician: Hanniba'al means " Ba'al is my grace " or " Ba'al has given me grace " 247 BC &ndash The Roman Republic was the phase of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by a Republican form of government a period which began with the overthrow of the A large elephant in full charge could cause tremendous damage to infantry, and cavalry horses would be afraid of them (see Battle of Hydaspes). The Battle of the Hydaspes River was a Battle fought by Alexander the Great in 326 BC against the Indian king Porus (Pururava
Industrial Elephants
Throughout Myanmar (Burma), Siam, India, and most of South Asia elephants were used in the military for heavy labour, especially for uprooting trees and moving logs, and were also commonly used as executioners to crush the condemned underfoot. Burma, officially the Union of Myanmar ( pjìdàunzṵ mjàmmà nàinŋàndɔ̀ is the largest country by geographical area in mainland Southeast Asia. The Kingdom of Thailand (ˈtaɪlænd ราชอาณาจักรไทย, râːtɕʰa-ʔaːnaːtɕɑ̀k-tʰɑj India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Crushing by elephant (زير پى ِپيل افكندن literally "casting beneath an Elephant 's feet" was for thousands of years a common method of execution
Elephants have also been used as mounts for safari-type hunting, especially Indian shikar (mainly on tigers), and as ceremonial mounts for royal and religious occasions, whilst Asian elephants have been used for transport and entertainment, and are common to circuses around the world. Hunting is the practice of pursuing Animals for Food, Recreation, or Trade. Transport or transportation is the movement of people and goods from one place to another See also Entertainment (disambiguation and The Entertainer (disambiguation Entertainment is an activity designed to give people A circus is most commonly a traveling company of performers that may include acrobats, Clowns trained animals trapeze acts Hoopers, tightrope walkers
African v. Asian Elephants
African elephants have long been reputed to not be domesticable, but some entrepreneurs have succeeded by bringing Asian mahouts from Sri Lanka to Africa. A mahout is a person who drives an Elephant. The word mahout comes from the Hindi words mahaut and mahavat, derivatives of the Sanskrit Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ( Sinhalese:, இலங்கை known as Ceylon before 1972 is an Island In Botswana, Uttum Corea has been working with African elephants and has several young tame elephants near Gaborone. Gaborone (pronunciation /ˌɡæbəˈroʊni/ estimated population 208411 ( 1 January 2005) is the Capital African elephants are more temperamental than Asian elephants, but are easier to train. Because of their more sensitive temperaments, they require different training methods than Asian elephants and must be trained from infancy hence Corea worked with orphaned elephants. African elephants are now being used for (photo) safaris. Corea's elephants are also used to entertain tourists and haul logs.
Zoos
![Devi (little princess), a 30-year-old Asian Elephant raised in captivity at the San Diego Zoo exhibiting "rocking behavior", a rhythmic and repetitive swaying which is unreported in free ranging wild elephants. Thought to be symptomatic of stress disorders, rocking behavior may be a precursor to aggressive behavior in captive elephants. [2][3][4] [5]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Devi_AsianElephant_SanDiegoZoo_20071230_RockingBehaviour.gif)
Elephants are also commonly exhibited in zoos and wild animal parks. A zoological garden, shortened to zoo, is an institution in which living animals are exhibited in captivity
Criticism
There is growing resistance[48] against the capture, confinement, and use of wild elephants. Animal rights advocates allege that elephants in zoos "suffer a life of chronic physical ailments, social deprivation, emotional starvation, and premature death". [49] However, zoos argue that standards for treatment of elephants are extremely high and that minimum requirements for such things as minimum space requirements, enclosure design, nutrition, reproduction, enrichment and veterinary care are set to ensure the wellbeing of elephants in captivity.
Elephants in culture
![The founder of the Indo-Greek Kingdom in Bactria, Demetrius I (205-171 BC), wearing the scalp of an elephant, symbol of his conquest of India[citation needed].](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/Demetrius_I_of_Bactria.jpg/180px-Demetrius_I_of_Bactria.jpg)
- George Orwell wrote a famous essay entitled "Shooting an Elephant", chronicling a 1926 episode of being forced to shoot an elephant while he served as an Imperial Policeman in Burma. Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950 who used the Pseudonym George Orwell, was an English writer "Shooting an Elephant" is an essay by George Orwell, written during the autumn of 1936 Burma, officially the Union of Myanmar ( pjìdàunzṵ mjàmmà nàinŋàndɔ̀ is the largest country by geographical area in mainland Southeast Asia.
- A famous story of Ivo Andrić is titled "A Story about the Vezier's Elephant. Ivo Andrić ( Serbian Cyrillic: Иво Андрић October 9, 1892 &ndash March 13, 1975) was a novelist Short story "
Popular culture
- The phrase 'elephants never forget' refers literally to elephants supposedly having an excellent memory.
- The expression white elephant refers to an expensive burden, particularly to a situation in which much has been invested with false expectations. A white elephant is a valuable possession which its owner cannot dispose of and whose cost (particularly cost of upkeep exceeds its usefulness The phrase 'white elephant sale' was sometimes used in Australia as a synonym for jumble sale. A Jumble sale or rummage sale is a event at which Second hand goods are sold usually by an Institution such as a local Scout Group
- Jumbo, a circus elephant, has entered the English language as a synonym for "large". Jumbo The Elephant ( 1861 - September 15, 1885) was a very large African bush elephant, born 1861 in French Sudan, imported to A circus is most commonly a traveling company of performers that may include acrobats, Clowns trained animals trapeze acts Hoopers, tightrope walkers
- Dumbo, the elephant who learns to fly in the Disney movie of the same name. Dumbo is a 1941 Animated feature Film produced by Walt Disney and first released on October 23 1941 by RKO Radio Pictures.
- The French children's storybook character Babar the Elephant (an elephant king) created by Jean de Brunhoff and also an animated TV series. Babar the Elephant is a very popular French children's Fictional character who first appeared in L'Histoire de Babar by Jean de Brunhoff Jean de Brunhoff ( December 9, 1899 &ndash October 16, 1937) was a French writer and illustrator known for co-creating Babar
- The Oakland Athletics mascot is a white elephant. The Oakland Athletics are a professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The story of picking the mascot was started when New York Giants' manager John McGraw told reporters that Philadelphia manufacturer Benjamin Shibe, who owned the controlling interest in the new team, had a “white elephant on his hands," Connie Mack defiantly adopted the white elephant as the team mascot, though over the years the elephant has appeared in several different colours (currently forest green). The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York City suburb of East Rutherford New Jersey. Benjamin Franklin Shibe ( January 23 1838 - January 14 1922) was an American executive in Major League Baseball who was Cornelius Alexander Mack ( December 22, 1862 – February 8, 1956) born Cornelius Alexander McGillicuddy, was an American The A’s are sometimes, though infrequently, referred to as the Elephants or White Elephants. The team mascot is nicknamed Stomper. This is a list of current and former Major League Baseball Mascots sorted alphabetically
- The Elephant's Child is one of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories. See also Just-so story for anthropological sense The Just So Stories for Little Children were written by British author Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling (30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936 was an English Author and poet See also Just-so story for anthropological sense The Just So Stories for Little Children were written by British author Rudyard Kipling
- Horton Hatches the Egg is a book by Dr. Seuss about a faithful elephant who sits on the nest of an irresponsible bird for months. Horton Hatches the Egg is a children's book by Dr Seuss, first published in 1940. Theodor Seuss Geisel (ˈsɔɪs ˈɡaɪzəl March 2 1904 – September 24 1991 was an American Writer and Cartoonist, better known by his pen name
- Joseph Merrick, a British man in Victorian England was nicknamed "The Elephant Man" due to the nature and extent of his deformities. Culture The Victorian fascination with novelty resulted in a deep interest in the relationship between modernity and cultural continuities
- American band the White Stripes' fourth album was entitled Elephant, possibly because of lead singer Jack White's fondness of the animals' extreme sensitivity toward each other. The White Stripes is an American Garage rock band, formed in 1997 in Detroit, Michigan. The album was #390 in Rolling Stone magazine's "500 Best Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone is a United States -based Magazine devoted to Music, Politics, and Popular culture that is published
- The Thai movie Tom-Yum-Goong (US title: "The Protector", UK title: "Warrior King") is about a man named Kham who travels from Thailand to Australia in pursuit of poachers who have stolen two elephants. Tom-Yum-Goong ( Thai: ต้มยำกุ้ง tôm jɑm kûŋ distributed as Warrior King in the UK as The Protector Kham is a member of a family that protects the elephants of the King of Thailand. The movie was directed by Prachya Pinkaew and stars Tony Jaa. Prachya Pinkaew ( Thai: ปรัชญา ปิ่นแก้ว b Panom Yeerum (พนม ยีรัมย์ pʰanom jiːrɑm born on February 5, 1976 in Surin province Isaan Thailand better known in the West
- In J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings story, there exist oliphaunts, house-sized versions of elephants. The Lord of the Rings is an epic In J R R Tolkien's fictional lands of Middle-earth, a mûmak (plural mûmakil) is a pachyderm of the southern land of
Religion and philosophy
- The scattered skulls of prehistoric pygmy elephants on Crete, featuring a single large nasal cavity at the front, may have formed the basis of belief in existence of cyclops, the one-eyed giants featured in Homer's Odyssey. Crete ( Greek: Κρήτη transliteration: Krētē, modern transliteration Kriti) is the largest of the Greek islands and the The nasal cavity (or nasal fossa) is a large air-filled space above and behind the nose in the middle of the face In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, a cyclops (ˈsaɪklɒps or kyklops ( Greek) is a member of a primordial race of The Mythology and Legends of many different Cultures include monsters of human appearance but prodigious size and strength Homer ( Ancient Greek:, Homēros) is a legendary ancient Greek epic Poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the The Odyssey ( Greek: Ὀδύσσεια or Odússeia) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer.
- A white elephant is considered holy in Thailand. A white elephant (also albino elephant) is a rare kind of Elephant, but not a distinct species The Kingdom of Thailand (ˈtaɪlænd ราชอาณาจักรไทย, râːtɕʰa-ʔaːnaːtɕɑ̀k-tʰɑj
- Ganesh, the Hindu god of wisdom, has an elephant's head. Ganesha ( Sanskrit: sa गणेश Gaṇeśa) also spelled Ganesa or Ganesh and also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar A Hindu ( Devanagari: हिन्दू is an adherent of the philosophies and scriptures of Hinduism, a set of religious, Philosophical
- Elephants are used in festivals in Sri Lanka, such as the Esala Perahera. Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ( Sinhalese:, இலங்கை known as Ceylon before 1972 is an Island Esala Perahera (pronounced /ɑsələ peɹəhɑɹə/) is the grand Festival of Esala held in Sri Lanka.
- Temple elephant
- Guruvayur Keshavan famous temple elephant in Kerala, India
- The story of the Blind Men and an Elephant was written to show how reality may be viewed by different perspectives. Temple elephants are a vital part of many Temple ceremonies and festivals in India, particularly in South India. Gajarajan Guruvayoor Kesavan (1904 - December 2, 1976) is perhaps the most famous and celebrated Elephant of Kerala, South The story of the blind men and an Elephant originated from India. Its source is unknown, but it appears to have originated in India. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country It has been attributed to Buddhists, Hindus, Jainists, and Sufis, and was also used by Discordians. Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices Hinduism is a religious tradition that originated in the Indian subcontinent. Jainism, traditionally known as Jain Dharma / Shraman Dharma (जैन धर्म is an ancient religion of India. Sufism ( تصوّف - taṣawwuf, Persian: صوفیگری sufigari, Turkish: tasavvuf, Urdu: تصوف Discordianism is a modern Religion centered on the idea that Chaos is as important as order.
- In Judeo-Christian accounts, including Midrash on the sixth chapter of the apocryphal book of 1 Maccabees, the youngest of the Hasmonean brothers, Eleazar the Maccabee stuck a spear under the foot of an elephant carrying an important Greek-Assyrian general, killing the elephant, the general, and Eleazar. Judeo-Christian (or Judaeo-Christian, sometimes written as Judæo-Christian) is a term used to describe the body of concepts and values which are thought to be held Midrash ( Hebrew: מדרש plural midrashim, lit "to repeat" is a Hebrew term referring to the not exact but comparative ( homiletic 1 Maccabees is a deuterocanonical book written by a Jewish author after the restoration of an independent Jewish kingdom probably about 100 BC. The Hasmoneans (/hæzməˡniən/ חשמונאים Hashmonaiym, Audio were the ruling dynasty of the Hasmonean Kingdom ( 140 &ndash 37 BCE
Politics and secular symbolism
- After Alexander's victory over the Indian king Porus, the captured war elephants became a symbol of imperial power, used as an emblem of the Seleucid diadoch empire, e. Conflict alliance and comradeship with Alexander Unlike his neighbour Ambhi (in Greek Omphis, King Porus chose to fight Alexander the Great in A war elephant is an Elephant trained and guided by humans for combat The Seleucid Empire /sə'lusɪd/ ( 312 - 63 BC) was a Hellenistic empire i The Diadochi (plural of Latin Diadochus, from Greek Διάδοχοι, Diadokhoi, "successors" were the rival successors g. on coins.
- The elephant, and the white elephant (also a religious symbol of Buddha) in particular, has often been used as a symbol of royal power and prestige in Asia; occurring on the flag of the kingdom Laos (three visible, supporting an umbrella, another symbol of royal power) till it became a republic in 1975, and other Indochinese and Thai realms had also displayed one or more white elephants. A white elephant is a valuable possession which its owner cannot dispose of and whose cost (particularly cost of upkeep exceeds its usefulness Siddhārtha Gautama ( Sanskrit; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual Teacher from Ancient India and the founder
- The elephant is also the symbol for the Republican Party of the United States, originating in an 1874 cartoon of an Asian elephant by Thomas Nast of Harper's Weekly (Nast also originated the donkey as the symbol of the Democratic Party). Year 1874 ( MDCCCLXXIV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Thomas Nast ( September 27, 1840 – December 7, 1902) was a famous German-American Caricaturist and Editorial cartoonist Harper's Weekly ( A Journal of Civilization) was an American political Magazine based in New York City. The donkey or ass, Equus asinus, is a member of the Equidae or horse family and an odd-toed ungulate. The Democratic Party is one of two major Political parties in the United States, the other being the Republican Party.
- The Order of the Elephant (Danish: Elefantordenen) is the highest order of Denmark, instituted in its current form on 1693 by King Christian V. The Order of the Elephant (Elefantordenen is the highest order of Denmark. Danish ( d̥ænsɡ̊ is one of the North Germanic languages (also called Scandinavian languages a sub-group of the Germanic branch of the An Order is a Decoration, awarded by a government a dynastic house, or a religious body to an individual usually for distinguished service to a nation or to humanity The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe Christian V ( 15 April 1646 in Flensburg &ndash 25 August 1699 in Copenhagen) was king of Denmark and The collar of the order consists of alternating elephants and towers, and its badge shows an elephant bearing a watch tower, in front of which a Moor is sitting, holding a golden spear. The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of Muslim (and earlier non-Muslim people of Berber and Arab descent
Elephant rage
Despite its popularity in zoos, and cuddly portrayal as gentle giants in fiction, Elephants are among the world's most potentially dangerous animals. They are capable of crushing and killing any other land animal, even the rhinoceros. Rhinoceros (raɪˈnɒsərəs often colloquially abbreviated rhino, is a name used to group five extant species of Odd-toed ungulates in the family They can experience unexpected bouts of rage, and can be vindictive. [50] In Africa, groups of young teenage elephants attack human villages in what is thought to be revenge for the destruction of their society by massive cullings done in the 1970s and 80s. [51] In India, male elephants attack villages at night, destroying homes and killing people on a regular basis. In the Indian state of Jharkhand, 300 people were killed by elephants between 2000 and 2004, and in Assam, 239 people have been killed by elephants since 2001. [50] In India alone there are up to 200 elephant-caused human deaths every year, and in Sri Lanka around 50 per year. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country
Musth
Adult male elephants naturally enter the periodic state called musth (Hindi for madness), sometimes spelt "must" in English. Musth (or alternatively spelled must is a periodic condition in bull Elephants characterized by a thick tar-like secretion called temporin from the temporal ducts Musth (or alternatively spelled must is a periodic condition in bull Elephants characterized by a thick tar-like secretion called temporin from the temporal ducts It is characterised by very excited and/or aggressive behavior and a thick, tar-like liquid secretion that discharges through the temporal ducts from the temporal glands on the sides of the head. The temporal bones are situated at the sides and base of the Skull.
Musth is linked to sexual arousal or establishing dominance, but this relationship is far from clear. Numerous cases of elephant goring and killing of rhinoceroses in national parks in Africa have been documented and attributed to musth in young male elephants, especially those growing in the absence of older males. Studies show that reintroducing older males into the population seem to have the effect of preventing younger males from entering musth, and therefore, stopping their aggressive behavior. [52] [53]
A musth elephant, wild or domesticated, is extremely dangerous to humans. Domesticated elephants in India are traditionally tied to a tree and denied food and water for several days, after which the musth passes. In zoos, musth is often the cause of fatal accidents to elephant keepers. A zoological garden, shortened to zoo, is an institution in which living animals are exhibited in captivity Zoos keeping adult male elephants need extremely secure enclosures, which greatly complicates the attempts to breed elephants in zoos. Captive breeding is the process of breeding rare or Endangered species in human controlled environments with restricted settings such as wildlife preserves Zoos
Musth is accompanied by a significant rise in reproductive hormones. Hormones (from Greek ὁρμή - "impetus" are chemicals released by cells that affect cells in other parts of the body Testosterone levels in an elephant in musth can be as much as 60 times greater than in the same elephant at other times. Testosterone is a Steroid hormone from the Androgen group In mammals testosterone is primarily secreted in the testes of males and the Ovaries However, whether this hormonal surge is the sole cause of musth, or merely a contributing factor is unknown: scientific investigation of musth is greatly hindered by the fact that even the most otherwise placid of elephants may actively try to kill any and all humans. Similarly, the tar-like secretion remains largely uncharacterised, due to the difficulties of collecting a sample for analysis.
Although it has often been speculated that musth is linked to rut, this is unlikely, because the female elephant's estrus cycle is not seasonally-linked. The Rut is the period of time when antlered Ungulates mate Ungulates include Deer, Sheep, Elk, Moose, Caribou, Oestrus is also the biological genus name of the gadfly. The estrous cycle (also oestrous cycle; derived from Latin Furthermore, bulls in musth have often been known to attack female elephants, regardless of whether or not the females are in heat.
The Hindi word "musth" is from the Urdu mast, which in turn is from a Persian root meaning "intoxicated". Urdu ( ur '''{{Nastaliq اردو}}''' trans Urdū, historically spelled Ordu) is a Central Indo-Aryan language Urdu is a standardised
The Channel 5 British television program "The Dark Side of Elephants" (March 20, 2006) stated that during musth:
- The swelling of the temporal glands presses on the elephant's eyes and causes the elephant severe pain comparable to severe root abscess toothache. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located A television program (US television programme (UK or television show (U Events 1600 - The Linköping Bloodbath takes place on Maundy Thursday in Linköping, Sweden. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Eyes are organs that detect Light, and send signals along the Optic nerve to the visual areas of the brain A tooth abscess or root abscess is Pus enclosed in the tissues of the jaw bone at the tip of an infected tooth A toothache, also known as odontalgia or less frequently as odontalgy, is an aching Pain in or around a Tooth. One elephant behaviour that tries to counteract this is digging the tusks into the ground.
- The musth secretion, which naturally runs down into the elephant's mouth, is full of ketones and aldehydes and (to a human at least) tastes unbelievably foul. A ketone (pronounced as key tone) is either the Functional group characterized by a Carbonyl group (O=C linked to two other Carbon atoms or An aldehyde is an organic compound containing a terminal Carbonyl group.
- As a result, musth behaviour is at least partly due to the elephant being driven mad by pain and distress.
Other causes
At least a few elephants have been suspected to be drunk during their attacks. In December 1998, a herd of elephants overran a village in India. Although locals reported that nearby elephants had recently been observed drinking beer which rendered them "unpredictable", officials considered it the least likely explanation for the attack. [54] An attack on another Indian village occurred in October 1999, and again locals believed the reason was drunkenness, but the theory was not widely accepted. [55] Purportedly drunk elephants raided yet another Indian village again on December 2002, killing six people, which led to killing of about 200 elephants by locals. [56] Elephants have used their powers of deduction to "hijack" trucks carrying sugarcane. [57]
Rogue elephant
Rogue elephant is a term for a lone, violently aggressive wild elephant, separated from the rest of the herd. It is a calque of the Sinhala term hora aliya. In Linguistics, a calque (kælk or loan translation is a Word or Phrase borrowed from another Language by Literal, word-for-word Sinhalese or Sinhala (සිංහල ISO 15919: siṁhala ˈsiŋhələ earlier referred to as Singhalese) is the language of the Sinhalese Its introduction to English has been attributed by the Oxford English Dictionary to Sir James Emerson Tennent, but this usage may have been pre-dated by William Sirr. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States The Oxford English Dictionary ( OED) published by the Oxford University Press (OUP is a comprehensive Dictionary of the English Sir James Emerson Tennent 1st Baronet ( 7 April 1804 &ndash 6 March 1869) born James Emerson, was an Irish Politician
Predators, parasites and diseases
Elephants rarely have predators because of their large size, except humans. Human beings, humans or man (Origin 1590–1600 L homō man OL hemō the earthly one (see Humus On one occasion during a drought, lions were videotaped successfully attacking a baby elephant and attempting to attack a full grown female elephant. Both attacks occurred at night. [58]
Elephants have a variety of both ecto-parasites and endo-parasites, including the highly specialized flies of the genus Cobboldia. Cobboldia is a genus of parasitic flies in the family Oestridae.
Family classification
See Elephant classification
See also
- Ability to swim
- Blind Men and an Elephant
- Crushing by elephant
- Dwarf elephant
- Elephant's graveyard
- Elephant (movie)
- Elephant ear
- Elephant joke
- Elephant in the corner
- Elephant sanctuary
- Elephants in Kerala culture
- Hammerskjoeld Simwinga -- environmentalist
- History of elephants in Europe
- Mûmak
- Temple elephant
- War elephant
- White elephant
- Year of the Elephant
- Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage
- The Elephant House
- Category:Famous elephants
- Category:Fictional elephants
References
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- ^ Blake, Stephen (2005). Central African Forests: Final Report on Population Surveys (2003-2005) (pdf). CITES MIKE Programme, Nairobi. Retrieved on 2006-12-08. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1609 - Biblioteca Ambrosiana opens its reading room the second public library of Europe.
- ^ South Africa to sanction killing of elephants (pdf). CNN (2008-02-25). 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 138 - The Emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius, effectively making him his successor Retrieved on 2008-02-25. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 138 - The Emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius, effectively making him his successor
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- ^ Paul MacKenzie. Elephant Information Repository: The Trunk. Retrieved on 2007-06-16. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1487 - Battle of Stoke Field, the last dying breath of the Wars of the Roses.
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- ^ Elephant Anatomy. A digital object identifier ( DOI) is a permanent identifier given to an Electronic document. Indianapolis Zoo. The Indianapolis Zoo in Indianapolis Indiana, United States, first opened to the public in 1964 Retrieved on 2007-05-28. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 585 BC - A Solar eclipse occurs as predicted by Greek philosopher and scientist Thales, while Alyattes is battling
- ^ Moore, Tom. (May 2007). "Biomechanics: A Spring in Its Step". Natural History 116:(4) 28-9.
- ^ Ren, L. & J. R. Hutchinson (2007). "The three-dimensional locomotor dynamics of African (Loxodonta africana) and Asian (Elephas maximus) elephants reveal a smooth gait transition at moderate speed". J. Roy. Soc. Interface 5: 195. doi:. A digital object identifier ( DOI) is a permanent identifier given to an Electronic document. ISSN 1742-5662. An International Standard Serial Number ( ISSN) is a unique eight-digit number used to identify a print or electronic Periodical publication.
- ^ Hutchinson, J. R. , et al. (Apr 2003). "Biomechanics: Are fast-moving elephants really running?". Nature 422: 493–494. Nature is a prominent Scientific journal, first published on 4 November 1869 doi:. A digital object identifier ( DOI) is a permanent identifier given to an Electronic document.
- ^ Todd, N. E. (2001). African Elephas recki: time, space and taxonomy (pdf). In: Cavarretta, G. , P. Gioia, M. Mussi, and M. R. Palombo. The World of Elephants, Proceedings of the 1st International Congress. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche. Rome, Italy.
- ^ Todd, N. E. (2005). Reanalysis of African Elephas recki: implications for time, space and taxonomy. Quaternary International 126-128:65-72.
- ^ Braden, Claire. Not so Dumbo: Elephant Intelligence. Retrieved on 2007-05-27. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 927 - Simeon the Great, Tsar of Bulgaria, dies 1120 - Richard III of Capua is anointed
- ^ Elephants' jumbo mirror ability. Retrieved on 2007-08-10. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 612 BC - Killing of Sinsharishkun, King of Assyrian Empire
- ^ Joshua M. Plotnik, Frans B. M. de Waal, and Diana Reiss (2006) Self-recognition in an Asian elephant. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 103(45):17053–17057 10. The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, usually referred to as PNAS, is the official journal of the United 1073/pnas. 0608062103 abstract
- ^ Bruce Bagemihl, Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity, St. Martin's Press, 1999; pp. 427-430
- ^ Elephant Listening Project. Retrieved on 2007-06-16. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1487 - Battle of Stoke Field, the last dying breath of the Wars of the Roses.
- ^ Elephant 'self-portrait' on show
- ^ Video of an elephant painting an elephant
- ^ [1] Animal experts discuss elephant painting
- ^ http://www.de-fact-o.com/fact_read.php?id=117 Elephant Painting De-Fact-o. com article
- ^ Conservation GIS Projects. Smithsonian National Zoological Park. Retrieved on 2007-06-16. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1487 - Battle of Stoke Field, the last dying breath of the Wars of the Roses.
- ^ S. Africa elephant culling splits wildlife groups. Associated Press (2005-11-28). The Associated Press ( AP) is an American News agency. The AP is a Cooperative owned by its contributing Newspapers radio Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. For the town in Argentina, see 28 de Noviembre. Events Retrieved on 2007-06-16. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1487 - Battle of Stoke Field, the last dying breath of the Wars of the Roses.
- ^ Animal rights outrage over plan to cull South Africa's elephants. Times Online (2008-02-26). 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 747 BC - Epoch (origin of Ptolemy 's Nabonassar Era 364 - Valentinian I is proclaimed Retrieved on 2008-03-22. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 238 - Gordian I and his son Gordian II are proclaimed Roman emperor.
- ^ The Learning Kingdom (1999-03-30). Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) Events 240 BC - 1st recorded Perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.
- ^ Resistance against capture and training of wild elephants. Amboseli Trust for Elephants. Retrieved on 2007-12-01. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 800 - Charlemagne judges the accusations against Pope Leo III in the Vatican
- ^ SaveWildElephants.com. PETA. Retrieved on 2007-06-16. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1487 - Battle of Stoke Field, the last dying breath of the Wars of the Roses.
- ^ a b Huggler, Justin (2006-10-12). Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 539 BC - The army of Cyrus the Great of Persia takes Babylon. Animal Behaviour: Rogue Elephants. The Independent. Retrieved on 2007-06-16. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1487 - Battle of Stoke Field, the last dying breath of the Wars of the Roses.
- ^ Highfield, Roger (2006-02-17). Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1500 - Battle of Hemmingstedt. 1600 - Philosopher Giordano Bruno is burned alive at Campo de' Fiori Elephant rage: they never forgive, either. Sydney Morning Herald. The Sydney Morning Herald ( SMH) is a daily Broadsheet Newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia Retrieved on 2007-06-16. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1487 - Battle of Stoke Field, the last dying breath of the Wars of the Roses.
- ^ "Killing of black and white rhinoceroses by African elephants in Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park, South Africa" by Rob Slotow, Dave Balfour, and Owen Howison. Pachyderm 31 (July-December, 2001):14-20. Accessed 2007-09-14. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 81 - Domitian becomes Emperor of the Roman Empire upon the death of his brother Titus.
- ^ Siebert, Charles (2006-10-08). Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 314 - Roman Emperor Licinius is defeated by his colleague Constantine I at the Battle of Cibalae, and loses An Elephant Crackup?. New York Times Magazine. Retrieved on 2007-06-16. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1487 - Battle of Stoke Field, the last dying breath of the Wars of the Roses.
- ^ India elephant rampage. BBC News (1998-12-24). Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar) Events 563 - The Byzantine church Hagia Sophia in Constantinople is dedicated for the second time after being destroyed by Earthquakes Retrieved on 2007-06-16. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1487 - Battle of Stoke Field, the last dying breath of the Wars of the Roses.
- ^ Drunken elephants trample village. BBC News (1999-10-21). Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) Events 1512 - Martin Luther joins the theological faculty of the University of Wittenberg. Retrieved on 2007-06-16. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1487 - Battle of Stoke Field, the last dying breath of the Wars of the Roses.
- ^ Drunk elephants kill six people. BBC News (2002-12-17). See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 546 - Gothic War (535–554: The Ostrogoths of King Totila Retrieved on 2007-06-16. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1487 - Battle of Stoke Field, the last dying breath of the Wars of the Roses.
- ^ Elephants hijack sugarcane trucks. Sydney Morning Herald (2003-12-09). The Sydney Morning Herald ( SMH) is a daily Broadsheet Newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 536 - Byzantine General Belisarius enters Rome while the Ostrogothic garrison peacefully leaves the city Retrieved on 2007-06-16. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1487 - Battle of Stoke Field, the last dying breath of the Wars of the Roses.
- ^ Lions attack Elephant (Video). National Geographic. Retrieved on 2007-06-16. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1487 - Battle of Stoke Field, the last dying breath of the Wars of the Roses.
- Wikisource: "The Blindmen and the Elephant" by John Godfrey Saxe
- Shoshani, Jeheskel (November 16, 2005). John Godfrey Saxe (June 2 1816 &ndash 1887 was an American Poet perhaps best known for his parable " The Blindmen and the Elephant " in Wilson, D. E. , and Reeder, D. M. (eds): Mammal Species of the World, 3rd edition, Johns Hopkins University Press, 90-91. ISBN 0-801-88221-4.
- External link to national geographics elephant rage episode of Explorer
- Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 26 (2003) 421–434
External links
- C. Johnson, "Elephant trunks were once snorkels", News in Science 1999-05-11,
- Elephant: Wildlife summary from the African Wildlife Foundation
- EleAid - Elephant facts, info and pictures from Asian elephant charity
- Elephant Encyclopedia
- Sanparks - South African National Parks official website
- How elephants communicate
- Elephant News - latest headlines about elephants
- Elephant Pictures & Information
- Photo of Pinnewella Elephant Orphanage in Sri Lanka
- Seek My Bowl on elephants as symbols
- Elephant Reintroduction Foundation
- Amboseli Trust for Elephants - interactive web site
- Animal info
- List of easy-to-read articles about elephants
- Temple Elephants in India – A short video in Quicktime format.
- African Elephant Database – For current info on African elephant distribution and numbers.
- Elephant Sanctuary Plettenberg Bay South Africa
- Elephant Sanctuary, Howenwald, Tenn.
- Elephant Nature Park, Northern Thailand
- A musth FAQ
- Short Videos
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